The Siena Heights University men's basketball team lost to Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference opponent Lourdes 55-46 on Thursday night. It was the second time the Saints have played Lourdes this season, the previous game resulting in an 82-39 loss for the Saints.

"As a coach, the result is either a mark in the win column or one in the loss column," said Siena Heights coach Joe Pechota. "Is it something we should be building on? Yes. Is it a moral victory? I'll leave that up for others to decide."

Siena Heights (4-12, 3-6 WHAC) got off to a strong start with its defense playing well. The Saints were using speed to their advantage, rushing up and down the court and pushing the tempo of the game. Siena held an early 8-5 lead.

Siena had little trouble getting the ball inside the paint against Lourdes (10-5, 5-3), but missed several short jumpers. At the same time, Lourdes began to control the boards, outrebounding the Saints and putting in 10 second-chance points.

"The tougher team is the one that sets the rules," said Pechota. "That's true in any sport at any level. Tonight, Lourdes was the tougher team. They bullied us on the glass and, to their credit, kept coming back at every chance."

Despite Lourdes holding a 23-13 rebound advantage, including 11 offensive rebounds, the Saints were right in the game, up by one at 22-21 with 3 ½ minutes left in the half. Both defenses turned up the pressure as the half came to a close with neither team able to gain another point.

The second half started out well for both teams. Only five minutes into the half, each team had added another 10 points.

Unfortunately for the Saints, they couldn't keep up the offensive success. The Gray Wolves' man defense hampered the Saints offense. Things only got worse for Siena on the glass, as Lourdes dominated the boards 48-30 during the game, finishing with 25 offensive rebounds.

"Tonight boiled down to toughness and mental preparation," Pechota said after the game. "You have to be mentally prepared when you go out on that court. We're an undersized team, and we have to overcompensate to limit our liabilities. We just couldn't get out of our own way in the second half."

The Saints didn't make things any easier for themselves, committing multiple fouls, including a single possession for the Gray Wolves when the Saints committed three consecutive fouls.

"We were sacrificing position for possession," Pechota said. "We don't need to do that. We want to pressure teams with position and grind them down. When you react, you're behind and we reacted a lot tonight."

Lourdes quickly turned a 32-32 tie into a 41-32 lead, as the Saints went ice cold, going 0-for-9 from the field during a seven-minute span.

Page 2 of 2 - Lourdes took a double-digit lead with seven minutes to go. Despite some big 3s from Jamison Webster (Madison High School), the Saints were never able to pull closer than seven points and took the loss, their fifth in the past six games.

Latwan Wesley led the way for the Saints, finishing with 14 points, four rebounds and two steals. Webster had 11 points, three rebounds and four assists while London Burris finished with seven points and three assists. JaVon Flowers added four points and six rebounds for the Saints.